People have been talking- and hyping up- Kill Bill for so long now that I almost forgot about Kevin Smith. Sure, Kill Bill maybe Quentin Tarantino's fourth film (which he owns writing and directing credits to), but what about Jersey Girl? This is, more or less, Kevin Smith's sixth film in a classic line of comedies. So why not bill this as Kevin Smith's sixth film? Well, I guess the people who like Kevin Smith will go see this. And those who don't, won't no matter how many movies you tell them he's made.
With that being said, Kevin Smith is one of my favorite writer/directors. I've seen all of his movies numerous times. I've seen his movies so many times that I can recite lines from them, word for word, and that's not just one of them, that's all of them.
Going into Jersey Girl, I knew that this wouldn't be your typical Kevin Smith film though simply because it lacked one important ingredient that made all of the other films so great. Well, technically, two important ingredients-- Jay and Silent Bob. Knowing that, I was ready to take a chance and hope for the best.
Jersey Girl has a solid storyline that will not disappoint. It focuses around the character of Oliver "Ollie" Trinke (as played by Ben Affleck) and his struggle as a single parent. It starts with him and his wife (played by Jennifer Lopez), who died at childbirth. I was telling myself I would cheer when J-Lo died in the movie, so of course they had to have her die during childbirth so I couldn't cheer. I really wish she got hit by a car. So Ollie has to raise his daughter on his own, with only the help of his dad (as played by the hilarious George Carlin) One day, Ollie freaks out and loses his job (he does press for musicians and movie stars and he has something occur dubbed the Fresh Prince Incident) so he has to move in with his dad. While staying there, over the course of seven years, it becomes their home but a piece of Ollie still wants to go back into the city and be the guy he used to be. He ends up almost deciding to move, and then eventually staying because of his daughter, his father, his friends and his love interest (as played by Liv Tyler).
This movie has a lot of sexual content, but what Kevin Smith movie doesn't? And if it ever should become too dramatic or serious for anyone, there a decent amount of jokes, and even when his daughter is a baby there are some nice poop and fart jokes. It should also be noted that Ollie goes on an interview and is interviewed by Kevin Smith's friend Jason Lee (with a moustache) and Ben Affleck's real life pal Matt Damon. Their little cameo helps you also to realize that this is a Kevin Smith movie.
Though the only time I saw Jay and Silent Bob was at the very start of this movie in cartoon form for the View Askew logo, this movie certainly did not disappoint. A great mix of comedy and drama, Jersey Girl should send a message to not only single parents, but all parents everywhere that family and your kids are the most important things in life. I don't know if it was the intent of Kevin Smith to go out on a soapbox and preach the good word of parenting or not, but I do know that the lack of parenting (and consulting with children on things which could ultimately effect their lives dramatically) is something that needs to be addressed more than anything in this day and age. Whether or not it was Kevin Smith's intent to make this movie about that particular subject is unknown to me, but I do hope that people will go to see it and take that away with them.
[back to NCA Movies page]
[back to NCA home page]
